My column on the ultimate irony that Liberty coach Jody Karam dealt with this season as the result of Bethlehem Catholic losing a wrestler instead of gaining one dragged Parkland sophomore Lee Todora through the mud and diminished all that the Trojans were able to accomplish this season, according to coach Ryan Nunamaker.

Kutztown's Zach Fleming re-set a career best and finished second in the mile run last weekend at the Lafayette/Rider Winter Games at New York City's Armory.

Fleming, a Northern Lehigh High School graduate, ran a 4:17.02, the second-fastest time in KU history.

Teammate Chris Varichione, a Quakertown grad, was fifth in the weight throw with a toss of 46-0.5. He also was ninth inthe shot put with a heave of 45-9.

ELSEWHERE:

Bangor grad Amanda Darling, now at Bloomsburg University, set a personal best by finishing the pentathlon at the Kutztown University Mid-Week Multi in fourth place with a total of 2,660 points.

East Stroudsburg junior Travis Toth hit a personal best in the weight throw at the Millrose Games on Friday in New York City. His throw of 63 feet, 7.75 inches is the fifth-best throw in Division II this season.

The Colonial League will kick off the girls portion of championship week tonight with semifinals at Catasauqua High School. The Lehigh Valley Conference and Mountain Valley Conference will contest their semifinals Wednesday, weather permitting.

East Stroudsburg's Rasheed Moore and Jess Martin, DeSales' Alexiah Grant and Kyle Hash, and Kutztown's Kelsey Watson earned weekly honors for their play last week.

ESU's Moore averaged 18.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 68.4% from the floor in two games last week. Moore recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and two steals versus Lock Haven. Against Millersville he notched 17 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal in a 93-64 win. Moore was also 13-of-19 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line on the week.

Martin recorded two double-doubles as ESU earned its first four-game winning streak since 2008-09. She hit the game-tying shot in final three minutes of both victories. In a 60-57 win over Lock Haven she scored 19 points, while notching 12 rebounds, three assists, and a block. She finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, a pair of steals and as many blocks in a 57-54 win against Millersville. Against the Marauders, Martin scored six of the Warriors' final 10 points. Martin has moved in the PSAC career top 10 with 200 career blocks.

Kutztown's Kelsey Watson was named PSAC East freshman of the week for the first time.

She led the Golden Bears to a victory over Mansfield on Thursday, tying her season-high of 19 points from the season-opener. She shot 6-of-9 from the field, 7-for-11 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds, three steals and three assists in just 26 minutes.

In addition, she had eight points and four rebounds in a loss to West Chester University on Saturday.

Watson is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.9 points per game. She is also third in rebounding (4.7) and second in blocks.

Grant was named Freedom Conference women’s basketball player of the week, Hash was named the Co-Player of the Week in men’s basketball.

Grant averaged 25.0 points per game in the two wins. She opened with 27 points in the 23-point win over Delaware Valley College and finished with 23 points in the 3-point win over Misericordia University as the Bulldogs moved into a tie for second place in the Freedom Conference standings entering the final two weeks of the season. Grant shot 51.3 percent from the field. For the year, she is averaging 17.4 ppg.

Hash averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game as the Bulldogs won two key Freedom Conference games over playoff contenders Delaware Valley College and Misericordia University. The two wins moved DSU into sole possession of first place entering the final two weeks of the regular season.

Hash opened the week with 18 points, including the game-clinching 3-pointer late in the game, in the win over the Aggies, and added a team-high 15 points in the win eight-point win over the Cougars on Saturday. He shot 55.6 percent from the field and was 9-for-9 from the free throw line. On the season he is averaging 12.6 points per game for the Bulldogs.

The end of the girls basketball regular season is near, even though some teams will still be playing makeup games next week while the Lehigh Valley Conference, Colonial League and Mountain Valley Conference contest their tournaments.

Only one of the 12 spots for those league tournaments is still up for grabs. A few other teams are still trying to get into districts.

Here's a look at what's still at stake league-by-league as well as updated standings.

LVC

Bethlehem Catholic (with Kalista Walters, right) has clinched the No. 1 seed for the LVC tournament. Parkland and Central Catholic are both in the tournament, though seeding is still up in the air.

Parkland can nail down the No. 2 seed and the North Division title by beating Whitehall on Friday. A Nazareth loss in either of its remaining LVC games would also give Parkland the division title.

The final tournament slot will come down to Nazareth and Emmaus. Nazareth can end the drama by beating Emmaus tonight. If Emmaus were to win, it could grab the LVC wild card by beating Central Catholic on Friday and having Northampton beat Nazareth on Friday.

Northampton needs to beat either Nazareth or Stroudsburg to qualify for the District 11 playoffs. The Konkrete Kids should have no trouble with Stroudsburg, so look for them to extend their season.

Liberty has to beat Freedom on Friday to qualify for districts. Freedom and Easton are both extreme long-shots to qualify for districts.

Colonial League

The tournament field and pairings are all but set. Northwestern should wrap up the top seed with a win over Catasauqua tonight. Catty has not won a league game this season.

If Northwestern wins tonight, it will face Bangor in the Colonial League semifinals Tuesday. The Slaters are locked into the No. 4 seed. Northwestern won both of its regular-season games with Bangor, earning a two-point road victory in December and a 10-point home win Tuesday.

If Northwestern claims the top seed as expected, the other semifinal would pit No. 2 Southern Lehigh against No. 3 Salisbury. Southern Lehigh beat Salisbury in overtime back in December. The teams play again tonight.

Saucon Valley has one chance left to qualify for districts. It must beat Palisades at home Friday.

Pen Argyl has two more cracks at a district berth. It needs to beat Bangor on Friday or Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg on Saturday to qualify.

Notre Dame-Green Pond needs to beat Wilson on Friday or Palmerton on Saturday for a chance to defend its District 11 Class 2A championship.

MVC

Pocono Mountain West, Pocono Mountain East, Pleasant Valley and East Stroudsburg South are all in the MVC tournament and the District 11 Class 4A playoffs. The league's other three teams -- Lehighton, Stroudsburg, and East Stroudsburg North -- cannot qualify for districts.

Pocono Mountain West needs one win in its last two league games to clinch the top seed for the MVC tournament. Pocono Mountain East can wrap up the No. 2 seed for the MVC playoffs with a win in either of its two remaining league games.

East Stroudsburg moved up three spots to No. 3 in this week’s NABC Division II Coaches Poll as the Warriors (20-0) reached another milestone with the highest ranking in program history.

ESU became the first team in DII to reach the 20-win plateau with a 75-67 win over Kutztown on Saturday, after posting a 112-79 win at Mansfield last Wednesday.

The Warriors are one of two undefeated teams remaining in DII and one of six in NCAA men’s basketball (1,043 schools). Their 20-game winning streak is the longest active streak in DII.

ESU is listed in the Top 10 for the sixth consecutive poll, and the eighth time in school history. This is the program’s first-ever Top 5 ranking.

The No. 3 spot is the highest for a PSAC school since IUP was ranked No. 2 on March 9, 2010.

The Warriors moved up after the top two teams (West Liberty and Florida Southern) lost last week. They moved ahead of defending national champion Drury, ranked No. 5 last week.

ESU’s 20-0 start is the best in the PSAC since 1994-95, when IUP opened 21-0. The Warriors have surpassed their best-ever start (13-0), and their longest single-season winning streak (14 games), set in 1940-41 and matched last year.

Last week, the Warriors reached a new mark for the longest overall winning streak in school history, surpassing an 18-game winning streak spanning the 1941-42 and 1942-43. They also matched a record with their 10th consecutive road win on Wednesday at Mansfield.

ESU will play two games in three days this week, traveling to Lock Haven on Thursday and hosting Millersville on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse.

This marks ESU’s 10th consecutive week in the national rankings, another program record.

Head coach Jeff Wilson, 203-127 in his 12th season, has led the Warriors to their fourth 20-win season in the last five years. ESU is 102-37 since the start of the 2009-10 season, which opened a run of three trips to the NCAA DII Tournament in the last five years.

ESU is ranked in the top five in DII in three categories this week – 2nd in turnover margin (+8.2) and 4th in scoring margin (+20.1) and steals per game (11.2). ESU is also ranked in the top 20 in three-point defense (10th, 29.3), assists per game (14th, 17.9), scoring (15th, 87.6 ppg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (20th, 1.43).

It was a stellar week for area college basketball players, who were recognized with weekly honors. Here they are:

Megan Gallagher, DeSales

The senior was named Freedom Conference Player of the Week. She averaged 14.5 points, 17.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in leading DSU to a 2-0 record. She opened the week with her fourth double-double of the season with career highs in points (19) and rebounds (22) in the win over Manhattanville. Her 22 boards were three shy of the single-game record at DeSales. Last Saturday, she had 10 points and 12 rebounds in a win over King's. This season Gallagher is averaging 10.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and leads the team in steals with 54.

Cat Noack, Bloomsburg

The Liberty High grad earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Athlete of the Week honors after helping lead the Huskies to a pair of victories last week.

The senior guard delivered the game-winning 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to lift the Huskies to a 79-77 victory at Millersville last Wednesday. She worked free off an inbounds pass following a Bloomsburg timeout with the Huskies trailing by a point and sank the game-winning basket to split the season series with Millersville and allow Bloomsburg to take over sole possession of second place in the Eastern Division.

At Millersville, Noack posted 17 points with six rebounds, an assist and a block in 39 minutes.

She remained on a roll against Lock Haven on Saturday, powering a 69-57 win with a game-high 26 points. Noack narrowly missed her career high in scoring, draining eight of 13 shot attempts from the floor including five of seven 3-pointers. She added five rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist.

It is the second time Noack has taken conference accolades this season.

Bloomsburg (17-3, 8-2 PSAC East) has won 10 consecutive games entering Wednesday's game at Cheyney.

Rasheed Moore, ESU

The first-year player was named PSAC East Freshman of the Week in a 2-0 week.

Moore earned his fourth time this season after helping the No. 6-ranked Warriors (20-0, 10-0) become the first 20-win team in Division II, leading ESU in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg) in wins over Mansfield and Kutztown.

He had 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a 112-79 win at Mansfield, which included a 34-3 run in just more than six minutes in the second half. He followed with 15 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in a 75-67 win last Saturday over Kutztown.

Moore ranks in the PSAC’s top 20 in scoring (13.9 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg), field goal percentage (51.0) and blocks (0.9 per game). He’s the Warriors’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder, contributing double figures in points in 17 of ESU’s 20 games.

Allison Howard, ESU

She was named PSAC East Freshman of the Week for a fourth time this season.

Howard posted 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last week for ESU (11-9, 6-4), shooting 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from the field and 88.2 percent (15-for-17) at the foul line. She also had five steals, five assists and didn’t commit a turnover.

She scored a career-high 25 points, going 13-for-14 at the foul line, and had 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double in a 67-49 win at Mansfield on Wednesday night. She added three assists and three steals in 36 minutes, her most in a regulation game this season.

Howard had eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 17 minutes in a blowout 80-56 win over Kutztown last Saturday. The 17 minutes were her second-fewest of the season as ESU led by double figures for the final 25 minutes.

She is second on the Warriors with 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 75.0 percent at the foul line. Her 13 made three throws at Mansfield are tied for ESU’s most since current assistant coach DeAnna Rayam had 13 against Bloomsburg in 2010.

Tim Kempton, Lehigh

For the second consecutive week and the fourth time overall, Kempton has been named Patriot League Rookie of the Week.

He averaged 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games last week as the Mountain Hawks posted a pair of come-from-behind wins to extend their winning streak to four games.

Kempton battled foul trouble to finish with 12 points and six rebounds last Wednesday as Lehigh erased a seven point halftime deficit to defeat Bucknell 66-63.

Saturday at Boston University, Lehigh trailed by 15 at halftime, but Kempton scored a team-high 18 points and added five boards as the Mountain Hawks rallied to force overtime and win 82-80 on a layup by senior Mackey McKnight with 0.5 seconds remaining.

Kempton shot 58 percent from the field and added two blocks and three steals last week.

In 23 games this season, the Scottsdale, Arizona native is averaging 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is ninth in the Patriot League in scoring and third in the league in rebounding.

An accident involving the Army women’s basketball team bus on the way back to its hotel has forced the postponement of tonight’s game at Lehigh.

No makeup date has been announced.

No major injuries were reported, but all aboard the Army team bus, including Northern Lehigh grad Aimee Oertner, a sophomore starter, and Southern Lehigh product Bridgette Daugherty, a freshman, were taken to local hospitals to be checked out.

Previously, the DeSales, ESU and Kutztown PSAC doubleheaders slated for today have been moved to Thursday.

DeSales will host Delaware Valley on Thursday, starting with the women's game at 6. The men follow at 8.

Kutztown hosts Mansfield at Keystone Arena for KUSSI Fan Appreciation Night starting at 5:30 p.m. for the women, 7:30 p.m. for the men.

East Stroudsburg's doubleheader at Lock Haven is at 6 and 8 p.m.

Moravian's men's game at Drew is pushed back an hour to 8 p.m. today.

As of now, the rest of the local college basketball remains unchanged:

The East Stroudsburg University baseball team is adding 9-year-old Brayden Walsh of Tannersville to its roster for the 2014 season through a partnership with Team IMPACT. He is signing with the baseball program tonight at 5:30 p.m. and will spend time with the Warriors throughout the upcoming season.

Walsh has been diagnosed with Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) and atypical Cystic Fibrosis in the last four years. The ESU baseball program has raised nearly $8,5000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Lehigh Valley chapter over the last four years through two programs: “Dollars for Doubles” and “Striking Out Cystic Fibrosis”. It is accepting pledges for this year’s “Striking Out Cystic Fibrosis”, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Lehigh Valley chapter.

Team IMPACT seeks to partner with team-based organizations to have them support children dealing with medical conditions. It currently has over 5,000 program participants.

Morning Call Sports Reporters Stephen Miller and Tom Housenick blog about high school and college sports action on and off the field in and around the Lehigh Valley, only at themorningcall.com.

Meet the bloggers

TOM HOUSENICK watches every move Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum makes on the court, laughs at every joke by Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon and watches all the Divisions II and III coaches and players do it for the love of the game. Basketball makes the cold weather season go by fast. Already can’t wait for late February and early March when each possession could result in a season ending or continuing on.

Wrapping up his ninth year at The Morning Call, STEPHEN MILLER is back for year No. 4 on the LVC football beat. He chronicled Central Catholic's state-championship run in 2010, watched Nazareth win its first LVC title in 2011 and saw the league crown tri-champions for the first time in 2012. He has also covered the Phillies, college football and a variety of prep sports while with The Morning Call. To stay updated on the 2013 LVC football season, check out the Varsity blog and follow him on Twitter @mcall_smiller.